Dad Helps Me Sew

My dad was at Great-Uncle Paul's auction last week and saw a curious cabinet up for sale.  He thought I might like it.

He bought it for me.

I nearly cried with joy and gratitude. I have the best dad ever.

It's some kind of sewing cabinet that unfolds into tons of compartments.  I call it my sewing valet.  It was still full of Anna Mae's things, most of which I kept.  Since I didn't know the age of the thread, I passed it on to the children.

I spent a delightful hour empyting my broken sewing basket from Grandma Weaver and sorting other sundries into the sewing valet. I made the sewing basket into a workbasket because it is so sentimental (if ugly). I had been wanting to replace the sewing basket, but not with a (horrors!) plastic tub and my sewing spot may be evolving in the future, so this sewing valet is absolutely perfect. I also adore cubbyholes.

 My sewing closet is roomier now because the sewing valet fits neatly between the piano and bookcase  nearby.  I'll say it again:  I have the best dad ever.
 

I am working hard at various projects, most of which I plan to reveal next week in a giant show and tell (ack! I gave myself a deadline!). Well, maybe in the next week or two.  New things afoot. . .

Clothes for Ben's Baby

Look at that proud big sis!  She asked for her sewing kit and made, entirely of her own initiative, plan, and construction, a little robe for Ben's baby with a tie and a neckerchief.  I'm so tickled.

Ben dearly loves his babies, both the toys and any real ones he sees.  He asked me recently, "where people get babies, Mommy?  Us get a baby?"  Try explaining that to a two year old. . . 

Here he's kissing his baby.

Since we're on the subject of dolly clothes, I photographed some that I made last year For the Record. 

Here is Evie's pink bear, Joey, dressed as La La Rose.

The dolly clothes below were in Genevieve's Christmas stocking.  The bib is reversible. To me, the yellow print is every little girl's dream of babies; I fondly recall cutting pictures of bottles, diaper bags, strollers, and cribs out of the Sears catalog and yearning for all the pretty paraphernalia of babies.  I thoroughly enjoyed outfitting my real babies.

Applesauce

I finished making applesauce at least two weeks ago, but for various reasons, here are the photos (one of the reasons is two teaching gigs - which is also the reason why I've been posting less).

Above is a vat of cooked down apples.  After I wash the apples, I just chop them into quarters and cook them, skins and cores and all, until they're soft.

Then I put the cooked apples through the Foley Food Mill I inherited from my mother.

No sugar needed this time!

Yield from one bushel apples:  16 quarts canned applesauce . . .

. . .and 13 pints frozen applesauce.  I used glass pints for the freezer for the first time.  And this is my new-to-me freezer!  We had maxed out our other 3/4 size freezer and my husband had the bright idea of buying a small freezer to complement instead of trying to replace our old freezer with a big one.

 

This freezer is upstairs in the old kitchen that we gained when we renovated this spring.  We've got ideas for the old kitchen, but not fixed plans.  So for now, the freezer hums away in the torn up kitchen.

I found this little freezer on Craigslist, managed to borrow my father in law's pickup truck, and bought it for $50 from a dear older couple who is moving to a retirement home.  Turns out, he was my father in law's dad's insurance agent (the Ben my son is named after).  And her name is Cosma - isn't that lovely?  Purchasing their freezer pleased me on all levels.

Cinnamon Flop

As a child, I remember my mother making Cinnamon Flop on the days she hosted Neighborhood Bible Study. I was envious of the ladies, eating that lovely cake, while I went off to school.  The house always smelled good and looked extra nice as my mother got ready for the ladies to come over.  Recently my mother told me that she and her six siblings ate this cake a lot for breakfast when they were growing up (I ate things like ice cream and cold pizza for breakfast).

I was fondly remembering this with my mom, and she reminded me that the Cinnamon Flop recipe is in Mennonite Community.  It's a great read, full of stories of "Grandmother's day" and recipes from plain and simple to truly ethnically strange; the cake recipe under Cinnamon Flop is from Russian Mennonite refugees of World War II and includes bread, cottage cheese, and "raw oatmeal."   Check your library if you're curious - the Mennonite Community Cookbook is a seminal book.

Since Cinnamon Flop resurfaced in my life a few weeks ago, it's become our breakfast frequently. I suppose you could do it the night kitchen method, but so far, I've been up early enough to just make it on the fly and then hop in the shower. I serve it with applesauce or fruit on the side, milk for the kids and cafe au lait for the adults.

 

Cinnamon Flop - - from the Mennonite Community Cookbook, a few tweaks by me
In mixing bowl, mix:
1 c. white flour
1 c. WW pastry flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Cut in:
1/4 c. shortening

Mix together, and then add slowly to flour:
1 egg
1 c. milk

Mix well.  Spread into greased 9x9 pan.

Brush top with 1-2 Tbs. melted butter.

Mix together and sprinkle over:
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

How to Play with Winter Squash

Make a squash baby.  With its heft and curves, a crook neck pumpkin is very pleasing to hold.

Set up a nursery in front of your mother's stove.

Protest when your mother observes the baby is getting rotten and ready for the compost pile.  Ask her what rotten means.

Go off to sew dolly clothes for Ben's baby.

Genevieve Chops Mushrooms

She loves helping in the kitchen.  We'd have to get to the breakable dishes and the sharp knives sooner or later (I recall, cringing, that I once broke FIVE of my mother's serving dishes at the same time when I was on dish drying duty).

This is the second time I allowed her to cut mushrooms with a paring knife and a cutting board.  Except for her snail pace, she's an ideal helper.

The mushrooms went into chicken pie, which I adapted loosely from Country Living.  Essentially, you make creamed chicken in an iron skillet and then lay a disc of pie dough on top.  Bake for about a half hour.  I really liked the ratio of crust to filling - sometimes a full crust pie for an entree is too rich.

Updated for Beth:

This really is a plan, not a recipe.  Hopefully easy to tweak.

In a 10 or 12 inch iron skillet, saute an onion and 1-2 sliced carrots and something like celery or green pepper.  Maybe some mushrooms. 

Sprinkle with 2 Tbs. flour.  Allow to brown a bit - a few minutes, stirring. 

Pour in, while stirring, 2 cups chicken stock and something dairy:  a glug of cream or milk or some dry milk powder.  Cook, stirring, until thick and bubbly (you've just made a white sauce). 

Add 1-2 cups diced cooked chicken (you've just made creamed chicken).  Check seasonings and add salt, pepper, sage, parsley, etc.  You could stop here and eat this creamed chicken over toast, cornbread dressing, or mashed potatoes. 

To make a chicken pie, just make one recipe of pie dough (I use one 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 1/3 c. shortening, salt, and ice water).  Roll out to the diameter of the iron skillet.  Lay the dough gently over the creamed chicken, cut some vents in the dough and optionally brush with 1 beaten egg for a nice shiny crust.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until you see some bubbling action at the sides and vents.

How to Store Winter Squash Attractively

Decorate with it!

The ledge over my front door never gets direct sun and, as the weather turns colder, is well protected by our porch.  As I need a squash, I bring my stepladder out to the front porch (we have a tall house) and fetch one.